Major Web Failure Impacts Many Online Platforms and Apps

An extensive internet outage has impacted many websites and apps globally, and users noting problems connecting to the web after problems at the web hosting system.

The impacted services comprise the social media app Snapchat, the gaming platform Roblox, the messaging service Signal, and Duolingo, as well as a host of Amazon-operated services like its key e-commerce site and the Ring security home security firm.

Across the United Kingdom, the financial institution Lloyds was disrupted in addition to its subsidiaries Halifax and Bank of Scotland, while there were additional accounts of problems using the HM Revenue and Customs online portal on that morning. Furthermore across the UK, many Ring users took to social media to report their security devices were malfunctioning.

Solely in the United Kingdom, notifications of issues on individual applications totaled the thousands for each app.

The company stated that the outage began in the east coast of the United States at AWS, a unit that provides crucial online backbone for a host of companies, who lease space on AWS infrastructure. AWS is the most extensive cloud computing system.

Just after midnight (PDT) in the America (8 in the morning BST), Amazon confirmed “increased problem frequencies and latencies” for AWS services in a zone on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. The widespread consequence seemed to hit platforms worldwide, and the Downdetector site indicating outages with the corresponding services in various regions.

The outage tracker Thousand Eyes, a tool that tracks web disruptions, additionally noted a rise in problems on that morning, including several cases found in the state of Virginia, the region of the eastern US data center where AWS said the issues started.